By BRENT MARTIN and MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph holds its annual free flu clinic at the Civic Arena Tuesday, with a twist.
The St. Joseph Health Department will also be providing free COVID-19 vaccine shots along with free flu shots from 9-to-noon, while supplies last.
Buchanan County has seen a steady decline in its COVID-19 positivity rate. Health Department spokeswoman Stephanie Malita cautions though against reading too much into the decline of the positivity rate to around five percent.
“That is just reflective of the number of people who are getting tested,” Malita tells St. Joseph Post. “The numbers within that number of people who are positive for COVID-19 have gone down, but there are still a good number of people in our community who are not getting tested that are positive for COVID-19.”
Still, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have finally been trending in the right direction. Mosaic Life Care reports it is treating 15 COVID-19 patients in its system; 14 in St. Joseph and one in Maryville.
Malita says the coronavirus pandemic last year kept many people from getting their flu shots. She says the health department hopes that changes this year.
The health department will be giving Pfizer coronavirus shots, all three. Any county resident who hasn’t received their first shot can at the flu clinic. Second shots of Pfizer and the Pfizer booster also will be available, for free.
A bit more than a third of Buchanan County residents have received their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Malita says the seven-week downward trend of COVID cases and hospitalizations should be attributed to a host of reasons.
“Every mitigation layer helps,” Malita says. “So, if we’re maintaining distance and wearing a mask and being vaccinated and staying home when we don’t feel well, all those things combined are what’s going to keep that positivity rate low and keep our community healthy.”
Again, the flu shot and the coronavirus vaccine will be available for free to Buchanan County residents between nine and noon while supplies last at the Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph on Tuesday.